Archive, Historians, CREW Sue White House, Seek to Preserve Presidential Records During the Transition

Archive, CREW, Historians Sue Pompeo, State Department over Failure to Create Records.

Archive, CREW, Historians Ask Federal Judge to Preserve Head of State Records .

1, 2020 – The National Security Archive, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, the American Historical Association, and the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington today filed suit against President Donald Trump in his official capacity, seeking to enforce the Presidential Records Act and prevent any destruction of records during the presidential transition.

The lawsuit cites the inadequacy of current White House policies that only require a screenshot of instant messages to be saved, preserving only the graphic content, when the law (as amended in 2014) requires "a complete copy" to be preserved, including digital links and attachments.

The Archive wrote the White House Counsel, Pat Cipollone, on November 13, seeking express assurances that all presidential records would be preserved, and citing six different news reports that White House staff were violating the records laws.  More than two weeks later, the White House has not responded.

“Presidential records are always at risk because the law that’s supposed to protect them is so weak and depends on good faith, which is currently lacking,” said Tom Blanton, director of the National Security Archive.

 “The Archive, historians, and CREW are suing to put some backbone in the law, save complete copies of all those instant messages, and prevent any bonfire of records in the Rose Garden.”.

From the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations:.

“For the purpose of creating a ‘usable past’ for generations of future citizens, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations is gravely concerned with preserving the integrity of the Trump administration’s records.

By deleting or preserving only parts of these records, the White House is destroying essential historical records,” said CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder

H.R.1233 - Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments of 2014

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